4-Day Karakorum, Hot Springs & Ugii Lake
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Ulaanbaatar β Khustai National Park β Elsen Tasarkhai Sands
We pick you up from your accommodation at 08:00 and drive about 100 km (2 hours on a paved road) to Khustai National Park, where takhi wild horses have been reintroduced since 1992. Known in the West as Przewalski's horse, the takhi is the last wild horse subspecies to survive into the 21st century. Russian explorer N. M. Przhevalsky first described it in western Mongolia in the late 1870s, but it later died out in the wild and survived only in zoos until breeding programs returned it to the Mongolian steppe. Spend time hiking in the surrounding hills to find the wild horses, and with luck you may also spot maral (red) deer and other wildlife. Then drive about 225 km (4 hours on a paved road) to Elsen Tasarkhai, whose name means 'a piece of sand.' This narrow strip of dunes, often called the northern edge of the Gobi, runs through the lowland between the legendary Khugnu Khan and Bat Khan mountains. Here you take a one-hour ride on two-humped Bactrian camels, which walk slowly and gently while you sit comfortably supported between their humps.
Karakorum (Kharkhorin) β Tsenkher Hot Springs
After breakfast, drive about 75 km (1 hour on a paved road) to Karakorum, the capital of the Great Mongol Empire, where a small township stands today. Some two centuries after the city was sacked by Chinese armies, builders reused materials from its ruins to found Erdene Zuu Monastery in 1586, the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, ringed by a wall topped with 108 white stupas. Visit Erdene Zuu, walk among its temples, and see the Karakorum Museum and other historical sights around the town, including the ancient granite turtle that once marked the city's boundary. Then drive about 125 km (2 hours on a paved road) to Tsenkher Hot Springs, the most famous hot spring in Mongolia and one of Central Mongolia's most popular attractions. Its mineral-rich water rises from the ground at a perfect 36β40Β°C, and it can be busy in high season. In the evening, relax in the open-air hot spring pool of the tourist ger camp, surrounded by larch-covered hills.
Khushuu Tsaidam Monuments β Ugii Lake
After breakfast, drive about 160 km (3 hours on a paved road) to the Khushuu Tsaidam Monuments in the Orkhon Valley, two memorial stone installations erected by the Turkic people in the early 8th century and inscribed in the Old Turkic (runic) alphabet, honoring the Turkic khagans Bilge Khagan and his brother Kul Tegin. Visit the local museum, which displays rare and unique exhibits from the site. Then drive about 40 km (1 hour on dirt roads) to Ugii Lake. This small, picturesque lake is known as a fishers' paradise. It covers only 27 sq km, with an average depth of 6.64 m, a deepest point of over 15 m, and a shoreline of 23 km, and its reed-fringed shallows attract many migratory birds. Enjoy a quiet evening on the lakeshore.
Ugii Lake β Ulaanbaatar
After breakfast, drive back to Ulaanbaatar, about 330 km and 6 hours on a paved road, across the wide grasslands of Central Mongolia, where you'll pass herds of horses, sheep, and goats and the white gers of herding families. It's a good chance to look back through your photos of wild horses, camels, and ancient monasteries. On arrival in the city at around 15:00, we transfer you to your accommodation.